H11: Audi's lead slashed

Emanuele Pirro came into the pits at approximately 3:47am local time after he was unable to select fifth gear. He just got back out before the hour ended, after the Audi mechanics changed the R10 TDI's gearbox cluster.

Pirro entered the pits with a four-lap advantage over the No. 17 Pescarolo Sport of Sebastien Loeb, and as the hour mark passed, that lead had narrowed to just a lap and half.

It was the first problem for the No. 8 Audi since the start of the race, while the sister the No. 7 car has been beset with issues throughout the past eleven hours.

Loeb continued to lap conservatively during that period and completed a scheduled pitstop.

Corvette caught a break in the battle for GT1 honours after a safety car period allowed them to catch right back up to the leading Aston Martin.

The No. 64 Corvette, currently being driven by Jan Magnussen, was passed for the lead in the seventh hour, and had slowly been drifting away from the quicker lapping No. 009 Aston.

However, following a large crash to Patrick Bourdais' No.98 GT2 Team Noel de Bello Porsche, a safety car period was called, which allowed Magnussen to wipe out the gap to Stephane Ortelli, and the Dane is currently the faster lapper.

At the end of hour, the gap between the pair was down to one and a half minutes.

The No. 50 Team Cirtek Ferrari had to be pulled out of the gravel following an off.

The Seikel Porsche still holds the lead in the GT2 category, a lap ahead of the Spyker.

The RML GM-Lola still holds a comfortable lead in the LMP2 class.